After earning rave notices for powerful supporting turns as a pimp in Street Smart (1987) and an alcohol abuse counselor in Clean and Sober (1988), actor Morgan Freeman began his ascent to stardom with this, his first lead role in a major… MoreAfter earning rave notices for powerful supporting turns as a pimp in Street Smart (1987) and an alcohol abuse counselor in Clean and Sober (1988), actor Morgan Freeman began his ascent to stardom with this, his first lead role in a major motion picture. Freeman is real-life high school principal Joe Clark, a tough, harsh educator and administrator who in 1987 is given a nearly impossible task by his old friend, school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier (Robert Guillaume). Clark is asked to reform inner city Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ, a hotbed of delinquent kids and drug dealers. Considered the worst school in New Jersey, the state is threatening to take control of Eastside away from the local school board. If Clark can straighten out Eastside in time to get the school's basic-skills test scores up, he can have the job permanently. Although Clark's tyrannical approach and hard-line policies alienate many members of the staff and the community, his uncompromising campaign gets results and even makes him famous, much to the chagrin of his powerful enemies. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Morgan Freeman is great in this role, but Lean on Me is a bit cheesy and predictable.

Jason Spencer

A teacher inspires his students to do better. Good flick.

ashley hayes-beaty

Oh if only there were more teachers like this..

Chosen 718

Classic

Jim Careter

A good movie. A bit dated but Freeman was great none the less.

Bradley Wright

A good movie. A bit dated but Freeman was great none the less.

Lee Kyle

this was another one i saw this weekend on BET. I love this movie to death and i think Morhan Freeman was overlooked by the academy on the year this came out.… Morethis was another one i saw this weekend on BET. I love this movie to death and i think Morhan Freeman was overlooked by the academy on the year this came out. Morganès performance is intense as hell as he portrays real life principal joe Clark. Great story which shows that once you weed out all the bad kids in a group there are surprisingly quite a few that actually want to learn and make something of themselves. Joe Clarks ways of doing things for sure are over the top however effective. My own kids were saying gee dad, were glad ure not like that! Why? cause then you would actually listen to me? hmmmmmm?

Sean Scobie

Morgan Freeman gives a pretty damn good performance and makes the movie interesting even though this kind of story has been done to death.

Dean McKenna

Great courage and true story of a high school principal who is saving the school from the troublemakers. Morgan Freeman electrifies his fiction character in an… MoreGreat courage and true story of a high school principal who is saving the school from the troublemakers. Morgan Freeman electrifies his fiction character in an extraordinary performance as an extraordinary man.

Joseph Eastmond

This film is like all true stories in which they are inspired by fact. "Lean on Me", However is different because it is inspired by fact and a great… MoreThis film is like all true stories in which they are inspired by fact. "Lean on Me", However is different because it is inspired by fact and a great story of a man who cherished his community and for those who wanted tto become someone good.

Miriam Kline

For those of you who like Morgan Freeman, this is the movie that really got him noticed...Think about that.